The Chadron State College volleyball team will hit the road this week as they take on two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals, UCCS (9-11, 4-8 RMAC) on Friday October 21st, and CSU-Pueblo (16-4, 9-3 RMAC) on Saturday October 22nd.
The Eagles are 7-14, 5-7 in the RMAC which places them ninth in the overall standings.
CSC is coming off a loss from nationally ranked Regis, where they hit .156 as a team, and totaled 30 kills. Defensively the Eagles had 36 digs and five blocks.
On the season, CSC is hitting .155 and has 783 kills. The Eagles will lean on freshman Bella Adams, who leads the Eagles with a .272 hitting percentage. Sophomores Aiyana Fujiyama, and Mayson Fago will help as they have hitting percentages of .198 and .153 respectively.
Those three are not the only offensive weapons the Eagles will use. Junior Lexi Hurtado leads the Eagles in total kills with 147.
The Eagles defense is led by Fujiyama who has 79 total blocks on the season, which ranks her third behind two CSU-Pueblo players. Adams has also helped Fujiyama at the net totaling 60 of her own which ranks her 12th.
As a team the Eagles are ranked fourth in the RMAC with 158 blocks.
The Eagles got some veteran leadership back against Regis as senior Abby Schaefer returned from injury. She added to her total digs on the season with 196, which is 15th in the RMAC after missing a couple of matches.
Schaefer has gotten help from junior Rylee Greiman who has recorded 192 digs and has helped the Eagles to fourth in the RMAC, in that category.
UCCS’ defense will relay on Nicole Medlin who leads the Mountain Lions in total blocks with 66. As a team, UCCS has totaled 120.
On the back half of the Mountain Lions’ defense, Jordyn Kinsey will lead them as she as totaled 242 total digs, with the team totaling 933.
The offensive attack for UCCS will be led by Nicole Medlin who is hitting .265 on the season. She has been getting help from Julia Geiger who is hitting .238. The Mountain Lions have four women hitting over .200. As a team the Mountain Lions are hitting .170.
Hannah Ammerman of UCCS leads the team with 199 kills, with teammate Raegen Emery has 182. UCCS has totaled 835 kills
CSU-Pueblo has the top two in the RMAC in blocks, with Jazzy Espinoza recording 81, and Josey Nunn showing 80. As a team CSU-Pueblo is second in the league for blocks with 168.
With all that traffic at the net, the Thunderwolves rank towards the bottom in digs in the RMAC. Elaine Thibadeau leads the Thunderwolves with 289 digs.
Offensively, CSU-Pueblo will lean on Espinoza who is hitting .404 on the season, which leads the RMAC. Her teammate Payton Van Veen is 10th with a hitting percentage of .297.
CSU-Pueblo is hitting .261 on the season, which is third in the RMAC.
Van Veen leads the Thunderwolves with 213 kills on the season which is eighth in the RMAC.
CSU-Pueblo has recorded 897 kills so far this season.
CSC looks to snap a 5-game losing streak against UCCS, with their last win coming in 2016.
CSC has lost the last 2 games against CSU-Pueblo with their last win coming back in 2018.